Chandigarh, 18-09-2013

Local lad Akshay Sharma emerges surprise leader in round two

Gangjee placed second, Chiragh makes hole-in-one

Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma fired a five-under-67 to emerge as the surprise leader in round two of the PGTI Players Championship at Chandigarh Golf Club. Sharma moved into a two-stroke lead at his home course as his total score read eight-under-136. Kolkata’s Rahil Gangjee occupied second place at six-under-138 after posting a 71 on Wednesday.

Akshay Sharma (69-67), who finished third at PGTI’s Feeder Tour event last week, climbed from overnight tied fifth to the top of the leaderboard with his remarkable second round effort. Akshay made an extraordinary recovery after finding the trees on the fifth. His second shot from 120 yards out stopped within a foot of the flag, leaving him an easy tap-in for birdie. The 23-year-old dropped a stroke on the seventh but was back in business with a flurry of birdies thereafter.

Akshay’s approach from 140 yards on the ninth left him with a three-foot birdie putt which he converted. The two-time runner-up on the Feeder Tour landed his five-iron tee shots within four feet on the 11^th and 14^th leading to birdies. Sharma also knocked down an 18-feet birdie putt on the 13^th and a mammoth 30-footer for birdie on the 17^th.

Akshay said, “My iron hitting was brilliant. I landed four of my iron shots within four feet of the hole on day two. I’m playing with a lot of confidence after my good finish on the Feeder Tour last week. This is my home course and I’ve adjusted well to the greens. I also hit a lot of fairways today. My best result on the PGTI so far, a tied 18^th finish, was also achieved at Chandigarh Golf Club earlier this year. So that has added to my confidence.

“The focus over the next two days would be to hit maximum greens in regulation and make as few bogeys as possible,” added Sharma, who looks up to fellow Chandigarh golfers Jeev Milkha Singh and Harendra Gupta.

Rahil Gangjee (67-71), the overnight leader, opened the day with a birdie on the first before making a three-putt for bogey on the fifth for the second day in succession. He went over-par for the day thanks to another bogey on the ninth. Rahil pulled a stroke back on the 13^th after a good up and down from the bunker. Gangjee holed a 25-footer to earn his last birdie of the day on the 15^th.

Gangjee, playing at Chandigarh after three years, said, “I had no momentum going today. I didn’t get the yardages right and missed a number of fairways. I’m also still adapting to the speed of the greens.”

Delhi’s Chiragh Kumar (71-69), who finished tied fifth on the Asian Tour last week, is currently in tied third place at four-under-140, along with the Chandigarh duo of Sujjan Singh (71-69) and Arshdeep Tiwana (68-72).

Chiragh’s second round of 69 included a hole-in-one on the 11^th, three birdies and two bogeys. The four-time winner on the PGTI hit his five-iron to perfection on the 11^th as the ball landed 10 feet short of the pin before rolling in.

Sujjan also produced some magic in round two as he made four straight birdies from the 15^th through the 18^th. His round also featured another birdie on the 11^th and two bogeys.

Chandigarh golfers Harendra Gupta and Abhijit Singh Chadha lie tied sixth at three-under-141.

Jyoti Randhawa (68-74) slipped from overnight tied second to tied 10^th position after he carded a 74 in round two. The former Asia no. 1 made two birdies against four bogeys on Wednesday to take his total score to two-under-142.

Randhawa said, “I found the rough a lot of times and missed fairways. There was lack of focus and commitment on my part today. I need to putt a lot better over the next two days.”

The cut fell at four-over-148. Fifty-seven professionals and one amateur made the cut.